CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Quarterback Robert Griffin III, a rookie last season with the Washington Redskins, led the NFL in jersey sales, and New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony's jersey sales surpassed those of the Miami Heat's LeBron James to take over the NBA's top spot.

NFL.com reports that sales for the replica jersey of Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning came in second, due in some part to his joining a new team after playing his entire career for the Indianapolis Colts. The sales for Tim Tebow's jersey led a year ago, when he took over the Broncos' quarterback job and led them to an 8-5 record and a playoff win, after Denver had lost 25 of its previous 32 games. Tebow's jersey now ranks 13th in sales. He hardly played during the 2012 season for the New York Jets, who acquired him in a trade with Denver after the Broncos had signed Manning as a free agent.

Griffin led a Washington team that went 5-11 in 2011 to a 10-6 record and the 2012 NFC East title.

Gregg Rosenthal writes for NFL.com:

There was a healthy debate last season about who was the top rookie quarterback in the NFL. There can be no debate about who was the most popular.

Robert Griffin III set a single-season jersey sales record on NFLShop.com, according to numbers provided by the NFL's Joanna Hunter. (If you are curious, Andrew Luck was No. 6 in sales, and Russell Wilson finished No. 14.)

Anthony is in his 10th NBA season, including the first 7 1/2 with the Denver Nuggets. His teams have made the playoffs in each of his previous nine campaigns, but lost in the first round every year but once, prompting Tom Van Riper to write for Forbes.com a few days ago that Anthony is the NBA's most over-paid player.

The replica jersey of the New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony leads the NBA in sales. (AP photo)

His playoffs futility aside, Anthony takes over the No. 1 jersey sales position from James, the former Cleveland Cavalier from Akron and three-time MVP who led Miami to the championship last season.

The Knicks’ high-scoring forward now leads all NBA players in replica jerseys sold since the beginning of the 2012-13 season, according to data released by the league on Tuesday. Ranking are based on sales at the league’s NBA Store in midtown Manhattan and on NBAStore.com.

Van Riper also writes:

The one prominent youngster who makes an appearance: Cleveland’s second-year guard Kyrie Irving, who makes his debut at No. 11, according to the league.

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